Daniel 4:3

4:3 “How great are his signs!

How mighty are his wonders!

His kingdom will last forever, ¹ 

and his authority continues from one generation to the next.”

Daniel 4:34

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time ²  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ³  toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.

I extolled the Most High,

and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.

For his authority is an everlasting authority,

and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.

Daniel 5:4

5:4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Daniel 5:23

5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ⁴  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ⁵  your very breath and all your ways!

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ⁶  prepared a great banquet ⁷  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ⁸  them all. ⁹ 

Daniel 2:9-10

2:9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. ¹⁰  For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful ¹¹  until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence ¹²  that you can disclose its interpretation.”

2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, ¹³  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.

¹ tn Aram “his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.”

² tn Aram “days.”

³ tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”

⁴ tn Aram “which.”

⁵ tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

⁶ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

⁷ sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

⁸ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

⁹ tn Aram “the thousand.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

¹¹ tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

¹² tn Aram “I will know.”

¹³ tn Aram “matter, thing.”